Completely Normal
by Pica-the-pikachu
Summary: It's normal to go on a long journey with dangerous creatures. It's normal for said creatures to be your pet. It's completely normal to have a strange mentor. Everything is normal. There is nothing wrong. Just stop hyperventilating and realize this is normal. Everything is normal... Completely normal... Oh my god did he just talk?
1. Chapter 1

"Little girls don't need to be having dangerous journeys with wild creatures." My mother had told me when I asked to go on a journey with our pet to try and become champion. All of my friends had already left a year and a half ago and I was stuck here trying to convince my mom that journeys weren't dangerous.

"But Muffin isn't a wild creature!" I would exclaim while pointing at our pet.

"No, but if you meet any wild Pokemon, they could hurt you." My mother would counter, scowling at me. "Now go to your room and think about what you've done."

"What did I do!?" I then stomped my foot in frustration. My mother just would not budge!

"You talked back." My mom then pointed to my room down the hall. I then huffed and stomp into my room and slam the door close.

Well, actually I would only stomp into my room. If I slammed the door, I could only fear that my eventual Pokemon journey would float father and farther away until it disappeared over the horizon.

Instead I choose to scream into my pillow until my face turned blue.

When I calmed down, I noticed that Muffin had pushed open my door and was trying to eat one of my socks that had escaped the laundry basket in the corner of my room.

Muffin stood a little over a foot, and was skunk shaped. His fur was dark purple and his face was large and rounded with a narrow red nose, red rimmed eyes, and two pairs of V-shaped, cream-colored whiskers on each side of his face. On top of his head were two pointed ears that seemed to be red on the inside. Meanwhile, a stripe of cream-colored fur ran from along the back of his neck to his tail that took up half of his body. He had a cream-colored underbelly, four short, stubby legs that were only good for waddling from one place to another.

Muffin was a stunky.

Now stunky's were known for their award-winning stench, but that was only used in self-defense. stunkys are actually rather clean animals who only smell like stale bread that had been in a freezer. Granted, you won't see any stunkys on top of a top pets list. They're all stubborn animals who come in three basic flavors. There are the alphas; they are proud creatures who always think they are boss. The sillies, who have too much energy and get into everything and the fatsos, They waddle around, inhaling any food they see, but other than that, they tire easily, making the stunky's speed useless.

Muffin then fell onto his side, wiggling his claws around uselessly. I could only sigh with what I had to work with.

My father had chosen a fatso out of a litter of pure alphas.

Pure breed stunky my rear, clearly there was snorlax in Muffin's veins.

I scooted to the edge of my bed and picked up the overweight bundle of fur and lay on my bed, muffin lying on my chest, still chewing on a sock.

"Muffin." I held a firm tone, hoping to get the skunk's attention. His ear twitched at his name, but he kept chewing on the sock. I scowled and pulled the object that Muffin kept eating away from his and threw it in the corner. Muffin looked at me, irritation in his eyes. "Muffin." I commanded again. He seemingly rolled his eyes and nodded his head. I grinned. It had taken me a whole two weeks to get Muffin to respond to his name, but he wouldn't respond if he was distracted. It wasn't perfect, but it worked.

Now onto phase 2 of my awesome training plan. I pushed off the overweight stunky and he rolled onto his back, his tiny claws flailing around in the air, trying to roll back over. I skipped, barefooted over to my desk that was coated in various papers and picture books. I shifted through the pile, until I found the notebook paper with a to-do list. The first several items had been checked off,

Get Muffin to stop biting me

Get an awesome hat

Get Muffin to stop spraying my bed

Get Muffin to stop growling at everything

Get snacks

While the rest were unchecked,

Get Muffin to respond to his name

Get Muffin to spray on command

Get Muffin to attack on command

Get Muffin to follow me without a leash

Find Muffin's pokeball (Check Mom's room)

Get more pokeballs

Go on a journey

Catch a lot of pokemon

Get all the badges

Become champion

Get muffin to stop spraying my bed again

I searched my desk for a pen and check of the next item on my list. I glanced outside my eight story window. It was about midday, so if I take my pet to the park I could teach Muffin to spray things, and I could work on my amazing pokeball throwing skills. I picked up a baseball from the floor and stuffed it into my pockets.

I might not even hit someone this time!

It had taken ample convincing arguments to my mom that I wouldn't run away or get kidnapped by a hypno.

I don't know why she is so frightened by psychic types...

So I put a leash on my fat pet and drag him three blocks and across two major highways until I got to the park... Castelia City isn't known as the "Greenest" city in all of Unova. But the park it really the closest thing we have to a forest to train in. Central plaza is... well, a large, stone covered pavement plaza filled with entertainers trying to swindle you out of money, the occasional trainer battling said entertainers, and preachers... preaching about something silly. In the center of the plaza is a large fountain that couples would waste their wishes, and money, even though there is a sign literally on the fountain stating that they should not throw coins in the fountain. At the edge of the plaza is a small bundle of trees that were planted by our city's gym leader, who kept on insisting that more trees would be planted in time, but I didn't see it happening anytime soon.

I had slipped on some slip on shoes before I left the house, but I kicked then off in front of the fountain and pulled up my jeans to jump in. I made a habit of picking up the coins that were in the fountain whenever I went to the park, no one paid any attention to me though, and I was only a kid playing around in a fountain on a hot day.

Muffin had decided that he didn't like water and went to the three trees and bit of grass that made up the park.

I had collected 38 P, a relatively big haul, and stuffed it into my pockets. I slid back on my shoes, but kept my pants pulled up to my knees. I went and found Mr. Fatso snoozing under the shelter of the trees, he really didn't like heat. I looked around, not really wanting to wake Muffin. He got really cranky when he woke up and I didn't want to smell like rotten eggs for the rest of today. I instead, opted to climb a tree, but I couldn't reach the lowest branches and just ended up scraping my elbows and palms on the bark.

I then tried throwing the baseball at a tree, pretending the tree was a brand new, undiscovered pokemon, and the ball was an amazing ball TM, the best ball in the world that played music and smelt like roses and... was just an amazing ball. I grinned as I spread my feet apart.

My eyebrows creased in consideration as I zoned onto the tree. My intense studying of watching people in cartoons throwing pokeballs flowed into my mind. I took a big dramatic breath, and then let it out. I pulled back my arm, my palm sweaty. Like a spring, I coiled, and then threw the ball at the tree.

The ball, instead of slamming into the tree and capturing it, flew half way, and then landed in the grass. I blinked, and then looked down dejectedly before I went to retrieve the ball. I went back to my previous spot and coiled again. I threw the ball. This time the ball flew the same amount as before... perhaps even less. I frowned and retrieved the ball. I decided after the next several times that I should mark where they land, to see if I'm getting stronger. I used various sticks on the grass that had fallen from the trees until my arm started hissing at me, making my throws more and more off. One time the ball flew up in the air and actually hit me on the forehead.

I fell back onto the grass with a loud cry and covered my forehead to protect myself from anymore falling balls. I felt tears from the pain and frustration of not succeeding at capturing the tree pokemon crawl at the corner of my vision. Why can't I hit a stupid tree!? I sat up and rubbed my eyes, my body slouched over. I looked up in between the tree trees and saw a bug trying to jump from one branch to the other.

The worm-like bug had a red, spiky shell that covered most of its body. A small pale, yellow horn protruded from its head and it had two longer ones on its rear. The creature had a blank yellow eye will a black pupil with no shine. Its face was round and pale. I snickered at the fact that the creature looked like it had a butt for a face. The underbelly was also pale and it had multiple spike feet that helped it reach the next branch.

I didn't recognize it immediately, but I did know that it evolved into cascoon. But what was it doing in Unova? I then remembered that the PC's were malfunctioning and releasing all sorts of pokemon from all over the world into Unova. I think they tried blaming terrorists, but it didn't stick because the old terrorist group, Team Plasma had dissipated permanently after their leaders were killed for their crimes once they were found after the kyurem insistent five years ago.

"You know your posture was wrong." A voice, which came out of seemingly nowhere, told me. I jerked my head to see a lanky 14 year old boy who had long black hair that reached to his shoulders. His eyes were dull brown and his skin was a dark brown. He wore a green vest with a black undershirt, jeans that were slightly ripped at the knees and ends. He had on black boots that had the underside turning gray from overuse and a pale green backpack that was slung over his shoulders.

But the most notable feature would be the five pokeballs on his belt.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're a trainer!" I gaped and I looked behind me. "A-and you're talking to me!" He rolled his eyes.

"Well of course." He grinned. "You're failing horribly at throwing a ball, so why wouldn't I help you?" He reached down and picked up the baseball that had slammed into my forehead and tossed it into the air. I pouted.

"Well no one can teach me, so I learn from cartoons!" I defended myself and crossed my arms. This made him bark with laughter.

"You're joking!" He grinned. But when I didn't respond. His grin faltered slightly. "Damn, even I had my pop to teach me." He paused, his eyes scanning the ground. "What if I taught you?" He suggested.

"What?" My brow creased in confusion. "Are you messing with me?" I got up and brushed grass out of my hair. "Because if you are, I'll go nuts." I warned. He laughed.

"You're funny!" He paused and stood up tall. "Yep, It's unofficially, official now. I'll be your mentor!" His grin somehow widened. "First lesson, this baseball will nev-"

"W-Wait!" I frowned. "What if you're just some creepy kid who will hurt me?" I objected. "I don't even know your name!"

"Well..." I sighed. "I'm Fin." His grin morphed into a frown. "As for hurting you..." Suddenly I felt a chill go down my spine. "I'm probably the only one who will truly protect you."

"W-Wha-"

"So anyway!" He interrupted, a grin plastered on his face. "That baseball won't do." He explained before I could ask before I could ask another question. "It weighs more then an actual pokeball." He plucked a red and white pokeball off of his belt and tossed it in the air. Suddenly a red flash of light erupted from the center and was sent in front of me. I yelped and jumped back, landing on my rear.

The beast that was released was a huge, brown furred bull with a large hump on the back of his neck. On it's head were two, very long, and very sharp horns that curved up and gleamed in the light. Small round plates adored the skull like jewelry or armor. The four hoofed beast had three tails that whipped around crazily while around it's neck was long, silky neck fur flowed down it's neck and over the beast's muscles.

I stared, frozen in place as the bull stomped closer. It's head bent down and glared at me on eye level. My mouth opened, but no words spilled out.

"This is Riggor my tauros!" He exclaimed excitedly while patting her side. "She is my best pal in the whole world!"

I could only stare. His grin faltered, but then lit up like a light bulb.

"Oh! Do you wanna pet her?" He asked as he tried to help me stand.

_ LOOK OUT! _I felt something scream in my brain. Instinct, psychic link, or some otherworldly force, I jumped back not of my own accord. I saw a dark purple furred blur jump in front of me and spin around, raising his tail at the bull. I blinked in shock and my mouth opened and closed.

"Whose skunky is that?" I heard Fin ask eagerly. "Because I don't have a skunky on my team, and this one looks feisty!"

"Ah..." My voice croaked out. "That's Muffin... My dad's skunky.."

"Oh, so you haven't even started yet!" He paused and tapped his chin, leaning on the tauros' side as she glared at Muffin. "That changes a few things..."

"W-WHat did you mean by before?" My voice cracked.

"Hmm?"

"Before! When you said I could only trust you!" I pointed an accusing finger. Muffin growled.

"OH!" Fin's face lit up, then darkened considerably. "I can't tell you."

"W-What!?" I yelped, outraged. I took a step forward.

"Well, how about a little wager then?" His grin was joyful before, but now it was filled with malice. I hesitated.

"What kind of... Wager?" I felt my mouth go dry.

"A simple battle. One on One. No time limit. First evolutions only. I win, I get to be your mentor and you will not complain, nor ask questions. I lose, I'll explain everything your little mind desires." Fin's voice was sharp like a blade. The steel on the edge of my skin, just sitting there, ready to sink into my skin at a moment's notice. I felt self confidence and assurance teasing my fingers. Emotions that, I don't think I felt at the moment, but were there, ready to be utilized. I glanced down at my skunky, his eyes glaring at the hulking mass in front of us. I felt a sense of pride grow in me. Muffin was ready to protect me from a foe that was twice my size.

"OK." I grinned. "Let's battle!" Fin stood up tall, and I noticed how short I was compared to him.

_ What the heck did I get myself into?_ I thought to myself as I licked my lips.

"Alright, Riggor!" The bull's face raised from it's staring contest with Muffin and looked at Fin with dull eyes. "You don't need my help."

"W-ha-" _He's trying to throw you off your game dammit! _A voice inside my head yelled at me. I blinked, and shook my head. "Alright, game plan..." I froze. "This is our first battle..." I whimpered. "I don't have a game plan..." I rubbed my head. "Alright, Alright, calm down Kayla..." I let out a deep breath. "The bull looks... big.. And big pokemon don't move fast... Except if they are fast..." I slammed my palm into my forehead.

"You alright there?" I heard Fin holler. "You seem to be in distress... Do you want to go first or not?"

"Ah!... Erm..." I paused and rubbed my arm. "This is my first battle.. I haven't even taught Muffin how to fight yet!" I explained sheepishly.

"Oh!... OK.." Fin paused, then leaned towards Riggor. "Change of plans, just roll with me alright?" I saw the bull snort

I rubbed my arms and looked down at my pet.

"Erm... Muffin!" I commanded for his attention. He growled at the bull and turned his head slightly at me, then nodded. I pointed a finger at the bull. "Get her!" I commanded, hoping he would understand. He paused, his face scrunched up in confusion, until he followed to where I was pointing and then his tail perked up.

"Alright, Riggor," The bull snorted. "Easy." The bull let out a small rumble from her throat and stood still. Muffin ran strait for the bull and his head slammed against the bull's leg. Riggor didn't even flinch. She just let out a small noise and raised her hoof slowly into the air. Muffin seemed to see this once the hoof was coming down and jumped out of the way. Muffin slammed his head against the bull's leg again. Riggor lifted her hoof, this time faster. Muffin yelped at the unexpected speed and jumped away, but his tail got caught under her hoof and he let out a cry.

"Muffin!" I called out in shock. He looked up at me, expecting something. I blinked at the unexpected authority, and called my cartoon knowledge. What would the hero's do?

_ I-I don't know!_ I yelped at him as I covered my face in shame. "B-Bite her?" I suggested lightly, then made a chomping motion. He rolled his eyes, then bit her calf. The bull grunted and lifted up her hoof. Muffin darted out from under the bull and let out a low, primal growl. Muffin suddenly turned around and lifted his tail. I grinned in realization. A green liquid/gas sprayed from his rear and coated the torus in a horrible stench. I clutched onto my nose as my tears watered. "Good job!" My voice sounded nasality, but Muffin seemed to get the idea.

The bull let out a loud moo as she jerked around, as if she had a rider that she didn't like.

"Ack! Look out! Riggor stop!" Fin yelped and hid behind one of the three trees. Riggor spotted my pet and ran at him. Muffin let out a squeak and darted away. I noticed they were running in circles, but the angry bull was catching up as Muffin tired out. I bounced from one foot to the other as I my mind sped around in circles. My felt panic inclose my system, making it blank out.

"A-Ack!" I choked out as Riggor caught up and headbutted Muffin into the tree Fin was hiding behind. I heard a snap as branches rained down. I ran forward into the fray as I saw the bull had pinned a now unconscious stunky against the tree, a large crack ran down the tree where Muffin was pinned. I jumped onto the stinky bull's neck fur. "Let him go!" I cried out as Riggor bucked around. I yelped in surprise and flew a few feet from the bull. I landed on my back and I cried out in shock. I didn't get up immediately. I just sat there, absorbing the pain like a sponge. Once I sat up, I saw an angry bull not two inches from my face. I froze in place, like a deer caught in the headlights and my mouth opened.

"Riggor!" I heard a voice growl behind the bull. The voice was deep, and I even jerked to look at it. Riggor flinched in front of me, making me yelp and cover my face. I heard the heavy stomps as the bull turned around and I heard the sound of a pokemon being returned. "Are you OK Kayla?!" The deep voice turned lighter, but full of worry. I blinked as I peered past my hands and saw Fin inspecting me. I looked past him and saw Muffin laying on the ground in a furry heap.

"Muffin!" I pushed past Fin and ran to my partner. I knelt down, my hands hovering above him. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to hurt him anymore.

"He should be OK. Riggor only used headbutt." Fin's voice sounded behind me.

"Only HEADBUTT?!" I snapped at him. "That BEAST pinned my pokemon against a TREE!" I pointed at the tree behind Muffin. I saw Fin's face darken quickly and he took a step forward.

"That Beast is my partner." Fin hissed at me. My eyes widened and I took a step back. "And I suggest you stop it before I do the same thing to you." His voice was eerily calm, even though he just made a threat. My voice cracked as pure terror enveloped my face. Fin's face lit up at the horror of what he just said. But before he could start, I jerked around and picked up my partner in my hands. I glanced back at him, before running away.

_ I have to get to the pokecenter._


	3. Chapter 3

I pushed past the hordes of people that crowded the busy sidewalk, my feet pounding against the concrete, aching for me to stop. My lungs heaved as my body shook with fear. I glanced behind to see I had lost Fin in the crowd. Being small had some advantages... I still hated it though. I finally slowed as my shoulders shook and I hiccuped. My throat burned for some sort of drink, and my heart pounded in my ribcage, trying to escape. I felt something slide down my face, and I reached up. I blinked as I saw I had been crying. I rubbed my eyes and waited at the crosswalk. I had gotten a few glances from my fainted pokemon, but no one did anything. That's all they were. Glances.

I felt every inch of my feet as they pounded against the road in time with my slowing heart. I kept my head low, and my ears listening for any sign of Fin.

Thankfully I had not run into him when I walked through the pokecenter's automatic doors as a wave of cool air hit me. It was relaxing.

The pokemon center had tall walls that raised several stories and was topped off by an overarching roof that was covered in glass panes. Outside I could see the last of the sun's rays crying for help as they sunk over the horizon. Long, thick, concrete pillars erupted from the ground to hold up the ceiling like thick arms tattooed with fancy designs. The pillars rose from beside a red and white tile pathway that lead down the long red desk with a fancy machine behind it. On each side of the desk were two more sliding doors with a red cross on the front. One was tinted so you couldn't see behind it, while the other was crystal clear. I could see chairs and waiting trainers. Some were talking with strange pokemon I could barely recognize, while others just sat there blankly, as if they were puppets who had there strings cut off.

I walked up to the desk and rung the little, adorable bell that sat on the counter. A woman came out of the tinted windows immediately and stood behind the counter. The woman was taller than me, but to everyone else she must have seemed small. Her pink hair looped behind her head like if they were large earrings while she sported a nurse's cap with a pink cross on it. She wore a stark white dress with a front pocket that also had a pink cross and a small pink bow around her neck.

"Hello and welcome to the pokemon center, how may I help you?" The nurse joy bowed.

"Er... Hi, my pokemon was knocked out in a battle and I was wondering if you could help him?" I asked politely. Her eyes stared behind me, yet she acted like she was looking at me.

"Of course! Please put the pokeball on the tray." I blinked as a tray with six indents for pokeballs suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Er... I don't have his pokeball with me..." I rubbed the back of my neck. The nurse joy paused, and then pulled out another tray. This one was empty and gray.

"Please put the pokemon on the tray." She repeated. I carefully put down the stunky and backed away. "Please go to the room on your right and wait until we call you." The nurse joy picked up the tray and headed past the tinted doors.

I walked into the clear doors and noticed a reception area with a nurse joy behind it; this one was leaning on her elbow and reading some small book in her right hand. This reception area was surrounded by a thick layer of glass, leaving only a small area for her to fit something through. Her pink hair was tied up in a bun instead of the loops like the other nurse and she had on a thin pair of reading glasses. She glanced up to look at me, and then looked down at the paperback. I stood there for a minute, unsure of what to do, until I realized I was being looked at by several trainers. I flushed and took a seat near some of the magazines on a little wooden table in the corner of the room. I lifted one up and pretended to read it. The magazine was Pocket's Digest and it had a small quiz asking what type I was most like. The answers were already filled in by someone who had a blue pen, but I ignored the answers they put and tried the quiz on my own.

The quiz was silly. It asked a bunch of silly questions like if my friend had fallen would I laugh or help them up, or even what my gender was at the end.

I ended up being a hasty skitty, and I promptly got pissed off and put the magazine back. I crossed my arms and mentally growled. _I'm not a skitty._

"So what did ya get?" I heard a terrifying voice gleefully ask. I yelped and jumped up, catching the attention of everyone but the receptionist, who seemed really into the book she was reading. I glanced around, then sat two seats away from Fin. I pulled another magazine from the table and tried to busy myself by reading an article about an old woman who was saved by her houndoom when she had a heart attack. "Hey." He tried to get my attention, but I ignored him. "Hey. Hey." He grinned wider, as if I stated a challenge to him. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey." My grip on the magazine got tighter and tighter until the top of the spine tore apart.

"What?" I snapped at him.

"You ran away." He pouted as if I did something wrong.

"You beat my pokemon then threatened me." I hissed at him. A few of the trainers who had pokemon, put there hands on the pokeballs. Fin blinked and looked down.

"Sorry... I get..." He looked around the room. I noticed he was sitting cress-cross on the chair. "Excitable... Sometimes."

"Excitable?" I laughed coldly. "That's not the word I would use to describe what happened."

"Then how would you describe it?" Fin leaned over the chair and crossed his arms.

"Insane." I stated bluntly. He blinked, then looked down. He huffed and sat up straight. I noticed how tall he was sitting. I glanced around the room and saw we had the attention of everyone in the room. Even the receptionist was eying us eagerly, as if we were some sort of live book. I lifted up the broken magazine and pretended to read.

"I-I sometimes don't think before I say things..." He told me. I remained silent. "I also am very competitive. B-but I didn't send my torus after you. Riggor can become very angry very quickly... But usually she is very docile." My pressed my lips into a line. "I really didn't mean anything I said... except the mentoring thing." I felt my anger build up.

"Mentoring? Me? After what just happened?" I blurted out in my rage.

"B-But that's what you don't understand!" Fin jumped up, seemingly unaware of the attention he was drawing. "I was going easy on you! Your pokemon sprayed mine and she attacked on her own!" Fin jerked out his hand. "Others won't let you attack first, or go so easy on you! They will stomp you and your stunky into dust!" He put his hand on his chest. "How about this. I'm not your mentor, but I'll teach you without any charge!"

"That's the same as a mentor." I murmured as I sunk into my seat, trying to get everyone to stop staring at me. He blinked, then let out a small 'oh...'

"What if you can stop being trained whenever you want... Just let me try, and if you want to train on your own after that, then I'll let you." He paused. "And I'll protect you." He puffed out his chest. I wanted to say no, but then the conversation would go on and on and I didn't want these eyes boring into me any longer.

"Fine! Fine!" I waved my hand. "Whatever! Just... Just..." I looked at the awaiting trainers. "Never mind, Fine." I put down the magazine. I looked at Fin, but found he was missing from sight. I blinked and looked at the trainers and receptionist who were are returning back to there normal positions when I arrived. "W-what?" I looked under the seats, but found he wasn't there. "Where di-"

"Kayla." A dull voice rung through the area. A few trainers glanced around, but most of them remained still. I stood up and eyes looked at me. I lowered my head and walked to the reception desk. The nurse Joy looked up at me with tired eyes and pointed her thumb at the automatic door that lead back to where I gave the other Joy my stunky. "Your pokemon is ready to be picked up. We hope to see you again." The Joy told me blankly. I bowed slightly and headed out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

The strangely automatic nurse had told me that Muffin would be fine, and that he needed to go on a major diet. She suggested giving him poison-type pokepellets since most poison type food was very lean, instead of the very hearty amount of dark-type pellets we had been feeding him for most of his life.

I had walked home and explained to my mother that Muffin had gotten hurt and so I took him to the pokecenter to be checked out. She had tried getting me to explain how he had gotten hurt, but I refused to elaborate. I instead told her that Muffin needed to go on a serious diet and fled to my room. I had slipped on my pajamas and glanced at the clock. 7:43pm. my stomach rumbled and I decided to sneak into the kitchen to steal some food.

Now we didn't have the largest kitchen in the world. I always heard my mom complaining about how the sink was too close to the oven or something like that. The entirety of the kitchen was crammed onto one wall, while the rest of the kitchen had cleaning supplies shoved into the corner halfheartedly. The wall opposite to the kitchen wall was a connector to the dining room. The two remaining walls were doorways that connected to the living room, where my mom lazed on the couch talking with someone on the phone with the TV on low.

I had successfully tip-toed into the kitchen and was scrounging around for food that I didn't need to cook. In the tall cabinet beside the refrigerator, I successfully found bread, so I got the idea to make a sandwich. I cracked open the fridge and propped it open with a vacuum cleaner to keep it from slamming close. On the little bit of counter space we had, I put down a napkin and placed down two slices of bread. I pulled out the strawberry jelly jar and carefully slid out a butter knife. I spread on the jelly on both slices of bread and screwed back on the top. I pulled out the butter and slathered it on, leaving huge chunks of butter in certain places like smooth rocks. I put the jelly and butter away quietly and pulled out a large back of chips.

What I didn't expect was a loud crunching noise that caused the talking in the living room to cease. I let out a meep and snatched up my unhealthy dinner, then rushed down the hall. The bag of chips crinkling all the way.

I slammed my door shut behind me and locked the knob. I rubbed my head, then plopped down on the carpet. I cracked the chip bag open, happily ignoring the loud noise that it made from behind the protection of my locked door. I popped some chips in my mouth and found after the fifth chip that my mouth had become rather dry. I reached out for my drink, but found that I was grasping at air.

_Darn it. _I grumbled as I unlocked the door. I peaked outside, but saw no looming mother with her death stare of doom. I retraced my steps to the kitchen and cracked open the fridge quietly. I pulled out a coke can from the eight pack and closed the fridge slowly.

"No, she doesn't know yet." I heard the authoritative voice of my mother hiss from the living room. I felt curiosity ebb at me until I just had to keep listening.

I crept closer to where I could hear my mom's voice better, the coke can cooling down my hand.

"I'm still not sure if it's a good idea..." I heard her pause. "Well, yes. But what if she gets h-" The voice on the other end of the line seemed to have interrupted her. "I _know_." Her tone was forced. "Why can't I protect my baby girl for a little longer?" My mom sighed. "I know it will only get worse the more she is cooped up, but shouldn't we explain anyth-" Another interruption I presumed. The voice on the other line seemed familiar, and I could only assume it was Dad. Although it might be my cousin, they sound alike, but I haven't seen my cozen since team Plasma was taken out. "Alright. Fine. When it's the right time, I'll te-"

"no!" A voice could be heard from the other line clearly before it resumed to intangible muffles.

"Fine. I'll tell her in a little while." She huffed and crossed her arms. "Alright. Love you, see you in a month." I blinked. My mom hated my cousin... So it must be my Dad! I patted myself on the back for my amazing detective skills and headed back to my room.

When I shut the door behind me I realized what I had figured out.

_Dad was coming back in a month!_ I squealed in my head with glee. I jumped onto my bed, shaking up my coke in the process. _Dad's coming home! Dad's coming home! _I rolled around childishly until I was out of breath.

_Dad's coming home..._ My grin slowly morphed into a frown. _Dad's coming home! _I jumped off my bed and started pacing. My dad didn't want me to go on a journey. And if he came home, I would never get to go! I gripped my head as the prospect of never leaving submerged me in an icy bath of shock. _I-I need to train now!_ I looked around in a panic as I realized I had left my baseball at the park! I felt my pockets in a hurry, then paused when I felt a small round object, about the size of a ping pong ball in my pocket.

_What?_ I pulled out the ball and realized in a shock what it was.

It was a pokeball.

_How did I get this?_

I pushed the button on the ball and it expanded so fast that I jumped in shock, sending the ball to the ground. I quickly picked it up and noted that even though it was now the size of my baseball, it was much lighter. As if the ball was a hallow, plastic ping pong ball instead of a metal, baseball sized ball used to capture monsters 400x it's size. The top was a stark red, but when I looked closer, I saw it was only tinted red, and you could see inside. I popped the ball open and poked and prodded at the contents inside, the technology shiny and new.

I determined that it was clearly magic and shrunk it down. I felt something glaring at the back of my head and turned to see Muffin glaring at me.

"What?" I asked him, annoyed that he interrupted me when I was about to start my training. I blinked as I felt something at the tips of my fingertips. I felt it crawl up my arm and bubble inside me. I blinked. "What th-"

_Traitor._

I froze. My mind drew a blank as I tried to process what had just happened. I just thought something, without thinking. It was like suddenly waking up with an extra foot on your face. The stunky was still glaring, but I also felt a shiver of confusion run up my spine.

"D-Did you just talk?" I felt numb as shock ran through my system like burning fire. A silence filled the air, thick enough you could cut it. The skunk glanced around the room, then turned to me.

_No? _

"There it was again!" I cried out as I jumped onto my bed. "Y-You can talk!?"

_NO! What?! No! This is talking!_

"Stunnnnnky!" Muffin let out a yowl.

"Oh my god." I started breathing quicker and quicker. "You can talk..."

_NO I CAN'T! _I saw Muffin start running around in circles. _STOP UNDERSTANDING ME!_

"oh my GOD!" I gripped onto my head. "This isn't happening... This isn't happening..." I started rocking back and fourth, my breathing erratic.

_STOP IT! STOP IT! _Muffin froze, then fell over on his side. _WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!? WHAT'S HAPPENING? Muffin then started flailing around, trying to get back up. Dammit. PICK ME UP!_

"NO! Not until you answer my questions!" I scooted towards the wall. He stopped wiggling around for a minute and I tried to calm my erratic heartbeat. "How long have you been able to speak?"

_I just found out RIGHT NOW! _It was so strange having my own thoughts screaming at me...

"So you HAVEN'T been hiding this?" I stressed.

_NO! I can't keep secrets! I blurt them out so quickly I set records!_

"So... What are you doing right now then?..." I questioned as I scooted closer.

_I-I'm just... Thinking of things I want to say to you... and... It is?_

"Oh god... You're... some.. weird.. Psychic dark poison type hybrid..." I rubbed my head. "I knew you weren't a pure breed..."

_W-What?... You know, it doesn't matter. _He barked out a laugh.. _I'm just going insane.._

"No, if anything, I'm insane..." I paused as an awful idea sprung forward. "Or.." I remained silent.

_Or what?_ Muffin tried to flip himself back over, but remained on his side.

"What if we are just in a cartoon?" I suggested.

_What?_

"Think about it! In every cartoon I've ever seen, there is always some sort of talking pokemon!" I pointed to him. "And you're the main character! You're gonna save the world!"

_Don't be crazy! _Muffin tried to get up again. This time I picked him up. _This is real life, stop it._

A silence remained between us. We both looked around the room awkwardly until I decided to pip in.

"So..." I looked down at him. "That just happened..."

_So... um..._ Muffin looked down at his paws.

"I... er..." I stared at my feet. "I'm... going to go to bed..."

_Ah.. Alright.. um... _

"I mean... I have a lot to think over..."

_Yeah... I'm just going to hide under your bed..._

"And... yeah..."

We both sat there, just bathing in the surrealist of it all. I eventually got ready for bed and laid down, trying to sleep.

_Oh... my... god..._


End file.
